Athletics director Norwood Teague announced the decision Monday and said it was time for a "fresh set of eyes" on the program.

Smith was 124-81 (.610) in six seasons at Minnesota. He arrived in 2007 from Kentucky, immediately ramping up expectations for a team that was buried by an academic cheating scandal.

Smith won 20 games five times. But he went just 46-62 in Big Ten play and never finished higher than sixth in the conference. The Gophers made three NCAA tournament appearances under Smith. They beat UCLA this year before losing on Sunday.